...even though i seem to have lost the fact that the printer friendly format is sponsored by Little Miss Sunshine (seriously). but i also like their pragmatic take on the activities of state legislatures.

Quote:

The New York Times
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August 11, 2006
Editorial
What Will the License Plates Say?

We’ve been interested to hear that the state dirt movement is gaining steam. As The Wall Street Journal pointed out this week, 21 states have now named an official state dirt, and New Jersey is considering adding a sandy loam to the list of honored soils. People have, of course, laughed. Some have suggested that a state legislature facing an $18 billion pension shortfall should have something better to do with its time. That kind of negative thinking misses the point.

The naming of state things is one of the most time-honored activities of state legislatures. Besides its dirt controversy, New Jersey has been wrestling with the tomato, which advocates seem determined to name the state vegetable even though it is a fruit. Alabama just made the black bear its state mammal. (Alabama, which is big on naming things, already has a state soil, along with a state nut, quilt, amphibian and outdoor musical.)

Key lime pie beat back the pecan lobby to become Florida’s official state pie this year, an event heralded by the American Pie Council. The nation is awash with official state rocks, muffins, sports, fossils, horses, freshwater fish, saltwater fish and — in the case of Texas and Virginia — state bats.

There are two excellent reasons to encourage this sort of thing. One is that although legislatures do indeed have many more important things to do, experience shows they’re probably not going to do them. The other is that state symbols usually begin their climb to honor in an elementary school classroom, where students learn the democratic process by nominating and voting on candidates for, say, state dog or state cookie. This is a fine teaching tool that just gets better if a state legislator empowers the children by turning their idea into a bill.

The only problem is that some states (are you listening, Alabama?) are clearly running out of things to name. The answer might be term limits for symbols. Instead of arguing about the state pie or state dirt, lawmakers should go back to the classics, and pick a new state mammal, flower, tree and bird every decade or so. The children would love it, and it would encourage more variety. The cardinals and mockingbirds and meadowlarks have had a lock on the state bird business for too long.